The best method I found is sending a /tell to someone, starting off with, "Hello, how are you?" rather than "looking for an fc?" I want to hear about a person's FC and not in shouts.

I join only on a try before you buy basis. People can dress up any FC in a flowery little speech in shout and you can join to find much of it is not as advertised. There should always be a no obligation policy in place when joining an FC.

So I say, I would rather talk one on one with someone, over all the choices and hope that they are exactly who they advertise themselves as. Most importantly, I would want a "drama free" fc that's been established for awhile.